A racist flyer comparing Baltimore bus riders to apes and encouraging the cutting of what it called the “Ghetto Bus Line” to White Marsh Mall, after a recent fight in the parking lot, drew boycott threats online — and swift condemnation from mall officials expressing their disgust.

MTA spokeswoman Veronica Battisti said Monday the agency was aware of the flyer, but did not have any comment on it.

The flyer, which includes a still frame from “The Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” circulated online Monday, but its origin is unclear. It drew a few pledges of boycotting the mall in Baltimore County by online commentors, who presumably thought the mall had posted it.

Lastner said he has noticed no difference in the volume of bus riders coming to the mall since last year’s implementation of new routes under the Maryland Transit Administration’s BaltimoreLink system overhaul.

If anything, Lastner said, mall officials want more bus service to reduce complaints of riders having to wait in large crowds for buses to arrive.

The bus service is important to riders such as Singleton Newman, who lives in West Baltimore and has been working at an IKEA call center in White Marsh for about five years. She said some of her co-workers frequently ride the bus home at night from the Franklin Square Drive and Campbell Boulevard stop; Newman gets out of work at 9 p.m., but many of her coworkers work until midnight. She worries about their ability to get home on the bus.

"I do believe that there are some kids that are hanging out there [at the bus stop] that are causing problems, but [the County Council members' proposal would] impact the people that take the public transportation,” she said. "It's not just about me and my immediate coworkers at this job. There are other people here who [the proposal] would negatively affect.

“What about the college kid working at the movie theater? What about the waitress at the restaurant at The Avenue?" Newman asked. "If anything, [the MTA] needs to extend the service for the taxpayers."